Celebrating Sensuality. Intended for mature audiences, 18 and over

Tag Archives: romance

In this garden at mid-day,
your beauty is bright,
your smile and eyes of joy.
Laughing and dancing, you are
opened petals absorbing the sun,
sharing your sweet scent with the world.
The flowers sway with you,
grateful to be appreciated,
for their hard work to become
color and nectar
is now seen and loved.

In this garden at dusk,
your beauty has softened,
a dark translucent curtain covers you.
You linger here and there,
loving the sky’s colors of the tail end
of the sunset, a dying light
glorious in its death for the
reminder of mortality and the
wish for remembrance in another day.

In this garden at evening,
your beauty has deepened
into mysteries where I must
search the dark depths
mostly finding just glimpses of you.
Elusive as you are,
I continue my pursuit,
shrubs rubbing my cheeks,
thorns tearing my clothes–
as if to protect you from me.
But these flowers are merely jealous,
eventually they turn away and sleep
as I find you, embrace you
ensure that you will not rush off–
but you whisper,I’ll stay, of course I’ll stay with you
as we lay on the grass of a garden path
trying to be as quiet as possible
to not wake up any of the flowers.

I’m trying to not let many months pass between my posts. While working on stories, I miss hanging around WordPress — and sometimes, I miss writing shorter work, which gives the satisfaction of finishing well before months of effort. I won’t try to keep a regular schedule, as I doubt that would last. So I’ll drop in when I can, and I’ll post some poetry. Here’s today’s…

*****

Handmade paper
as he wrote
her a poem
trying to
express his love.

Every word
felt clumsy
stumbling over
the next word.

The ink spreading
on his fingers
like blood
as if his heart
seeped through them.

Finally finished,
he gave her the paper,
and her eyes
told him the poem
was just right.

Well, plans don’t always unfold smoothly. My novel wasn’t published during May, as I hoped — but it’s only a little late.

Lucky is not only available, but free until Sunday, June 25. Afterwards, this ebook will cost $2.99.

This story grew out of the mention of a movie that two characters in my novel The Sweet Taste of Revenge watch in a hotel room. I liked the idea of the movie, so I decided to write the story behind it. The movie was described as a comedy, but the novel was written to be more romantic and erotic than humorous (still, I hope readers find some parts funny).

The plot:

Hugo Freeman has become an (almost) overnight millionaire. Lots of people play the lottery in the hope of quick riches, and Hugo is one of the very lucky ones, giving him the freedom to quit his job at a convenience store and not have to worry about working for the rest of his life.

Then come the big questions: What to do next? Where to live? Stay in the (fictional) small town of Linden, Ohio — or relocate to a more exciting locale, as benefitting a rich bachelor?

Lovely temptations lay in exciting Miami, and Hugo enjoys them during a vacation. On his return home, Hugo’s friends claim he’s become a stranger in town. But help to find his way is not far off — and it comes with delicious cupcakes.

Please note this story contains mature content meant for readers of 18 years and older. The story includes descriptions of sexual activity between consenting adults. Please do not read if that offends you.

I originally wrote this by a request from Elizabeth over at Just Add Tea, and I wanted to add it here after reading Emmanuelle de Maupassant’s post “Why Write Erotic Fiction?” that offers a wonderful variety of voices (I reposted it yesterday).

First, a little background in how I got to the point where I’m writing erotic and romantic stories. Several years ago, I saw an online contest for erotic short stories. I was writing general fiction at the time, and I figured, Why not? It’ll be fun to try something new. I won an honorable mention, and that was soon followed by an invitation to join other authors in contributing to Ruthie’s Club, a subscription website that offered erotica — with each story accompanied with an original illustration at the beginning. I enjoyed being a part of the site, and many stories came out of that relationship.

Unfortunately, Ruthie’s Club shut down around 2010. That left all those stories no longer published — and a lot of ideas in my head for more stories.

Then I learned about this little thing called “self-publishing.” You mean I could prepare an ebook and put it up for sale on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords? I figured, Why not? It’ll be fun to try something new.

Yes, that’s a recurring theme for me. It drives part of my writing. Because stories can come in forms of fantasies that I want to see played out and see where they go. I imagine that scores of people have fantasies, and authors move those from their heads to the computer screen (or typewriter if you’re old school like that).

And sex scenes can be electric to write. Sometimes, my fingers can’t type fast enough to get the action out. Thank goodness I can type fairly well, and don’t have to hunt-and-peck — which would’ve driven me bonkers from impatience.

However, my writing is not just about the sex. (Okay, you got me: that part of storytelling is fun.) Deeply satisfying is writing about people connecting on emotional levels — not just physical. I’ve noticed that my writing in the past couple of years has come to include this. Before, I was pretty single-minded on writing about people simply enjoying pleasure. Now, though, the characters also enjoy togetherness. And that has broadened my writing to involve scenes besides sex.

In turn, that expanded my stories from only the erotica category to romance. Which is something I never saw coming. I read a mixture of stories, including general fiction, thrillers, and erotica. I don’t come from reading a vast library of romantic books. So I feel as a newbie in the field. (By the way, the romance that I’ve read which has probably stuck with me the most is The Lover by Marguerite Duras. An exquisite book.)

Relationships and emotions are complex, and I probably capture only a fraction of them in my stories. I’m fascinated by relationships and emotions, so there’s plenty for me to explore. My most recent novel is The Sweet Taste of Revenge, in which the main character divorces her cheating husband and plans to get revenge on him. That’s been an interesting challenge. I’m not a woman, nor have I been divorced. But in writing the book, I hope I was fair to the character. It was quite a ride.

Speaking of a ride, I suppose that’s the reasoning behind why I write. It’s the rush that I get when I take an idea and turn it into a story. That can be with an erotic and romantic story — or tamer stuff. I use August MacGregor as a pen name for the Rated Mature content and my real name for the rest. Writing is way too much fun to commit to only one type of story.

With my August pen name, I try to tell stories of people enjoying the sensual things in life and connecting with each other — but making mistakes along the way. I find that to be another part that brings interest to writing. Because things don’t always proceed perfectly. When a character is in love with someone, the second character may not feel the same way in return. People cheat in relationships. Not every couple has simultaneous orgasms that are mind-blowing every single time.

Which brings the hope that a story with people making mistakes is more interesting for the reader. Because I’d love for my stories to be a ride for readers, just like the stories were a ride to put together.

I had to get those out of my system. Those headlines came to mind, and I thought they were really cheesy, but I couldn’t help myself.

I’m giving away several ebooks in the hope of adding to your hot summer reading list. Reading on the beach is a standard vacation activity, and I’d love for my stories to be read on the beach. As well as by the pool. And on a couch. And in bed.

Which makes me think of Sam-I-Am’s list from Green Eggs and Ham … but I’d like to think my writing is more appetizing than that dish.

Today through Wednesday (June 22), the following ebook titles will be free on Amazon. They’re mostly short stories, along with a novella. PLEASE NOTE that these stories include explicit sexual activities between consenting adults, so ONLY read if you are at least 18 years of age.

She dreams of the romance of Paris.
Of strolling along wide boulevards
and close, secretive alleyways.
Sipping coffee in sidewalk cafes
and wine in aromatic restaurants.
Nibbling on chocolate from a specialty shop
and on each other’s necks in
stolen moments of public affection.
Standing underneath the Eiffel Tower
and looking up through the crossed ironwork.
By day, sunshine would color the city
like Impressionist paintings,
then the city would slip on sparkling jewelry
to dress up for nights.

He reminds her of how expensive
the city is supposed to be.
How crowded it is with tourists
snapping photos of the wide boulevards.
How dirty it is from all those tourists.
How rude the waiters are
because they have to put up
with the clueless tourists.

She explains that’s the reality of the place.
The frame holding the Impressionist painting,
the twisted wire hanging on the hook on the wall.
There is no point in hoping dirt does not exist,
but to accept it and move on,
choosing to appreciate the wonders.

She continues to dream of Paris,
and the colors of her dream are now brighter.